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CHESSBy Mind GamesHow to Play Chess: Rules and BasicsIt's never too late to learn how to play chess - the most popular game in the world!Learning the rules of chess is easy:Step 1. How to Setup the ChessboardAt the beginning of the game the chessboard is laid out so that each player has thewhite (or light) color square in the bottom right-hand side. The chess pieces are thenarranged the same way each time. The second row (or rank) is filled with pawns. Therooks go in the corners, then the knights next to them, followed by the bishops, andfinally the queen, who always goes on her own matching color (white queen on white,black queen on black), and the king on the remaining square.Step 2. How the Chess Pieces Move

Each of the 6 different kinds of pieces moves differently. Pieces cannot move throughother pieces (though the knight can jump over other pieces), and can never move onto asquare with one of their own pieces. However, they can be moved to take the place ofan opponent's piece which is then captured. Pieces are generally moved into positionswhere they can capture other pieces (by landing on their square and then replacingthem), defend their own pieces in case of capture, or control important squares in thegame.How to Move the King in ChessThe king is the most important piece, but is one of the weakest. The king can only moveone square in any direction - up, down, to the sides, and diagonally. The king may nevermove himself into check (where he could be captured). When the king is attacked byanother piece this is called "check".How to Move the Queen in ChessThe queen is the most powerful piece. She can move in any one straight direction forward, backward, sideways, or diagonally - as far as possible as long as she does notmove through any of her own pieces. And, like with all pieces, if the queen captures anopponent's piece her move is over. Notice how the white queen captures the blackqueen and then the black king is forced to move.

How to Move the Rook in ChessThe rook may move as far as it wants, but only forward, backward, and to the sides. Therooks are particularly powerful pieces when they are protecting each other and workingtogether!

How to Move the Bishop in ChessThe bishop may move as far as it wants, but only diagonally. Each bishop starts on onecolor (light or dark) and must always stay on that color. Bishops work well togetherbecause they cover up each other's weaknesses.

How to Move the Knight in ChessKnights move in a very different way from the other pieces – going two squares in onedirection, and then one more move at a 90 degree angle, just like the shape of an “L”.Knights are also the only pieces that can move over other pieces.

How to Move the Pawn in ChessPawns are unusual because they move and capture in different ways: they moveforward, but capture diagonally. Pawns can only move forward one square at a time,except for their very first move where they can move forward two squares. Pawns canonly capture one square diagonally in front of them. They can never move or capturebackwards. If there is another piece directly in front of a pawn he cannot move past orcapture that piece.

Step 3. Discover the Special Rules of ChessThere are a few special rules in chess that may not seem logical at first. They werecreated to make the game more fun and interesting.How to Promote a Pawn in ChessPawns have another special ability and that is that if a pawn reaches the other side ofthe board it can become any other chess piece (called promotion). A pawn may bepromoted to any piece. A common misconception is that pawns may only be exchangedfor a piece that has been captured. That is NOT true. A pawn is usually promoted to aqueen. Only pawns may be promoted.

How to do "en passant" in ChessThe last rule about pawns is called “en passant,” which is French for “in passing”. If apawn moves out two squares on its first move, and by doing so lands to the side of anopponent's pawn (effectively jumping past the other pawn's ability to capture it), thatother pawn has the option of capturing the first pawn as it passes by. This special movemust be done immediately after the first pawn has moved past, otherwise the option tocapture it is no longer available. Click through the example below to better understandthis odd, but important rule.

How to Castle in ChessOne other special chess rule is called castling. This move allows you to do two importantthings all in one move: get your king to safety (hopefully), and get your rook out of thecorner and into the game. On a player's turn he may move his king two squares over toone side and then move the rook from that side's corner to right next to the king on theopposite side. (See the example below.) However, in order to castle, the followingconditions must be met: it must be that king's very first move it must be that rook's very first move there cannot be any pieces between the king and rook to move the king may not be in check or pass through checkNotice that when you castle one direction the king is closer to the side of the board. Thatis called castling "kingside". Castling to the other side, through where the queen sat, iscalled castling "queenside". Regardless of which side, the king always moves only twosquares when castling.

Step 4. Find out Who Makes the First Move in ChessThe player with the white pieces always moves first. Therefore, players generally decidewho will get to be white by chance or luck such as flipping a coin or having one playerguess the color of the hidden pawn in the other player's hand. White then makes amove, followed by black, then white again, then black and so on until the end of thegame. Being able to move first is a tiny advantage which gives the white player anopportunity to attack right away.Step 5. Review the Rules of How to Win a Game ofChessThere are two ways to end a game of chess: by checkmate, or with a draw.How to Checkmate in ChessThe purpose of the game is to checkmate the opponent's king. This happens when theking is put into check and cannot get out of check. There are only three ways a king canget out of check: move out of the way (though he cannot castle!), block the check withanother piece, or capture the piece threatening the king. If a king cannot escapecheckmate then the game is over. Customarily the king is not captured or removed fromthe board, the game is simply declared over.

How to Draw a Chess GameOccasionally chess games do not end with a winner, but with a draw. There are 5reasons why a chess game may end in a draw: The position reaches a stalemate where it is one player's turn to move, but his kingis NOT in check and yet he does not have another legal move The players may simply agree to a draw and stop playing There are not enough pieces on the board to force a checkmate (example: a kingand a bishop vs.a king) A player declares a draw if the same exact position is repeated three times (thoughnot necessarily three times in a row) Fifty consecutive moves have been played where neither player has moved a pawnor captured a pieceStep 6. Study Basic Chess StrategiesThere are four simple things that every chess player should know:Protect your KingGet your king to the corner of the board where he is usually safer. Don't put off castling.You should usually castle as quickly as possible. Remember, it doesn't matter how closeyou are to checkmating your opponent if your own king is checkmated first!

Don't Give Pieces AwayDon't carelessly lose your pieces! Each piece is valuable and you can't win a gamewithout pieces to checkmate. There is an easy system that most players use to keeptrack of the relative value of each chess piece. How much are the chess piecesworth? A pawn is worth 1 A knight is worth 3 A bishop is worth 3 A rook is worth 5 A queen is worth 9 The king is infinitely valuableAt the end of the game these points don't mean anything – it is simply a system you canuse to make decisions while playing, helping you know when to capture, exchange, ormake other moves.Control the Center of the ChessboardYou should try and control the center of the board with your pieces and pawns. If youcontrol the center, you will have more room to move your pieces and will make it harderfor your opponent to find good squares for his pieces. In the example above whitemakes good moves to control the center while black plays bad moves.Use All of your Chess Pieces

In the example above white got all of his pieces in the game! Your pieces don't do anygood when they are sitting back on the first row. Try and develop all of your pieces sothat you have more to use when you attack the king. Using one or two pieces to attackwill not work against any decent opponent.Step 7. Practice by Playing Lots of GamesThe most important thing you can do to get better at chess is to play lots of chess! Itdoesn't matter if you play at home with friends or family, or play online, you have to playthe game a lot to improve. These days it's easy to find a game of chess online! Clickhere for where to play chess.How to Play Chess VariantsWhile most people play standard chess rules, some people like to play chess withchanges to the rules. These are called "chess variants". Each variant has its own rules.To learn more about chess variants, click here.How to Play Chess960Chess960 follows all the rules of standard chess, except for the starting position ofpieces on the back rank, which are placed randomly in one of 960 possible positions.Castling is done just like in standard chess, with the King and Rook landing on theirnormal castled squares (g1 and f1, or c1 and d1). 960 plays just like standard chess, butwith more variety in the opening.How to Play with Chess Tournament RulesMany tournaments follow a set of common, similar rules. These rules do not necessarilyapply to play at home or online, but you may want to practice with them anyway. Touch-move - If a player touches one of their own pieces they must move thatpiece as long as it is a legal move. If a player touches an opponent's piece, theymust capture that piece. A player who wishes to touch a piece only to adjust it onthe board must first announce the intention, usually by saying “adjust”. Clocks and Timers - Most tournaments use timers to regulate the time spent oneach game, not on each move. Each player gets the same amount of time to use fortheir entire game and can decide how to spend that time. Once a player makes amove they then touch a button or hit a lever to start the opponent's clock. If a playerruns out of time and the opponent calls the time, then the player who ran out of timeloses the game (unless the opponent does not have enough pieces to checkmate,in which case it is a draw).Frequently Asked Chess Questions (FAQs)How do I get better at chess?